The Goddess Statue
by omegafire17
Summary: Link faced Demise and defeated him, saving the world from his evil, for the time being. And shortly afterward, he accepted his childhood friend's offer to live on the surface together, though they would never truly abandon Skyloft. And mere days after the final battle, Zelda leaves a message for Link, asking him to meet her on top of the Goddess Statue once again. Endgame spoilers


**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything of Legend of Zelda, whether Skyward Sword or otherwise.

**Rating:** T

**What could have happened after Skyward Sword's ending, epilogue included. Summary pretty much said it all.**

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Zelda stood on top of the Goddess Statue, looking up at the image of the Goddess, lightly strumming a note or two from her harp.**  
**

How strange to think this stone carving was what she looked like as a divine being... though she thought they might have gotten a few details wrong. Link had described a lot of his journey over the last few days, mostly the particulars, and one of those moments had been Fi showing just how much was missing from Skyloft's legend. Perhaps they'd forgotten and/or distorted her features over-time as well.

Maybe she should start replacing them with stone carvings of her current appearance... That thought made her blush a little though. True, she was the goddess-reincarnated-as-a-Hylian, but she still felt like Zelda too, and having huge statues with her face in a praying position was embarrassing to think about. And yet, part of her wanted to see what worship felt like.

That and more went through her head. She wished they still had Impa for advice, but she could do without it, even as she missed her.

Humming a few notes to herself, she still couldn't miss the distinctive sound of Link's Loftwing flying above her head, along with her own. _"Now's the time"_ she thought, her hand briefly touching the bird statue at her waist. She'd carved herself, as a replacement for the original one they'd used in the ceremony.

She turned around just as Link dropped off his Loftwing, who flew up high afterward. He wore his Skyloft outfit, the only addition being the Hylian shield he'd acquired on his travels. She wore the same, the only change being that the hair down her back was unbound, instead of tied up at the bottom.

She watched as he dusted himself off slightly, then turned toward her, both curious and happy to see her.

"Glad you could make it, Link" she started, glancing down a bit, admiring his strong, silent vibe. "You're probably wondering what this is all about... I never did say why in my letter"

He simply nodded with a small chuckle.

She giggled in response; that said more than words ever could, for Link. "Well..." she said, trailing off for a moment, a little nervous. "About the Wing Ceremony... while we did it right, that wasn't the only way it could have gone"

"Huh?" he said, more a sound than a word, his expression curious again.

She smiled a bit, holding her harp in one hand. "And to be honest, I tried that other way, at first" she said. "But at the last second, I did it the proper way"

At that moment, Link held a hand up to his chin, glancing off to one side, his expression thoughtful. She watched him, seeing that he was trying to think back: to see if he could tell when she'd suddenly changed how the ceremony was supposed to go.

"How did that other way go?" he finally asked, looking back at her.

It took a lot of effort to restrain the blush that threatened to come up, but she managed to smile. "To tell you, we should do the ceremony over" she answered, taking the statue from her waist and holding it up. Both it's shape and it's colors were cruder than the original, but it would suffice. "Starting with this... but I'll need my Sailcloth back"

He rubbed his head sheepishly, but he reached into his bag for a moment, pulling it out easily. She exchanged it with her statue, and he held it while she put it back on, as it had been during the ceremony.

"Exactly as we did it before, Link" she said, holding her hand out for the statue... again.

He nodded, handing it to her just like before. With both hands, she placed it into it's slot, then gently took out her harp and closed her eyes. She began to play softly, and the moments passed as the notes came easily to her. Behind her, Link stood with a peaceful expression, and above them, their Loftwings flew in circles together.

Eventually, she stopped, and put the harp back at her waist. She turned back to Link with a smile, and held out her hand again. Link took it -which sent pleasant flutters through her stomach- and got down on his knee, closing his eyes.

She did the same; "Great Goddess, guiding light and protector of our people, grant us your blessing and mercy as I act in your stead during this ceremony. _Valiant youth who grasped victory at the celebration of the bird folk... In accordance with the old ways... I now bestow the blessings of the goddess upon you_"

Then she reached behind her, untying the sailcloth from her shoulders. When Link looked up, she held it out, neatly folded. _"The blessings of the goddess drift down from the heavens aloft a sail, which I know pass onto you"_ she said softly.

He easily took it from her again, then out of nowhere, held up in an Item-Get pose, while distinctive music played in the background.

_You got the_ **Sailcloth** _again! Now you can jump from any height without fear of a painful landing!_

_...It still smells nice._

"Link! Quit goofing off" she said with a giggle. "This is supposed to be a sacred ritual, remember?"

He chuckled along with her, both from the original memory and the fact they were repeating it so precisely.

Back on the ceremony, she continued, "You know, they say the goddess gave that Sailcloth to her **chosen hero** long ago. Of course, the one you're holding isn't the same one. I've been working hard to finish making this Sailcloth to give it to today's champion.". Her tone became softer; "I'm really glad I got to give it to you today, Link. Make sure you take good care of it, ok?"

He nodded, but she also saw hints of confusion form in his expression, and she couldn't blame him; the ceremony was nearly over, and at some point they'd do something different... that he had little clue about.

She hesitated a bit on the spot, knowing it was very nearly time. "Thanks for making it up here to do this with me today like you promised, Link" she managed to say, smiling.

He returned the smile, and nodded again... but the small bits of confusion remained.

She made a happy noise in return, and stepped closer, enough that he took note of it just like before, but not close enough to be uncomfortable... yet. She held her hands behind her back, nervous and almost losing the will to stop her blush. "Now, we really should finish up this ritual..." she said, and this time, the nervousness started to show in her voice.

"You... do know what happens at the end, right?"

He looked at her for a few moments, but all that came out of his mouth was "Uhh...".

She giggled, liking him even more for that. "That wasn't what you said last time, but okay" she breathed, letting that sink in for a moment. Then she stepped forward once again, with barely a foot's distance between them. He looked just as flustered now as he did back then.

But this time, she let the blush slowly appear. She'd gotten this far, and through much worse... she wouldn't let herself chicken out again.

"This was the part where I suddenly changed how the ceremony was supposed to go" she whispered, letting all her feelings show, except for one in particular. "Instead of what I planned, I said you had to jump off the statue... and I pushed you to cover my change"

Her blush, combined with all the emotions in her voice, her being so close... things were starting to add up in Link's expression, without him saying a word. But he wasn't afraid of what he was realizing... just nervous about it all.

And she could work with nervous.

"That whole journey" she continued, feeling her stomach flutter. "You worked so hard to save me, to protect me... I felt so warm, Link. And though I already apologized about what I did as the Goddess, I never told you everything I, your Zelda, felt about your efforts on my behalf"

"I loved all that you did for me" she breathed, love in her voice now, one hand softly sliding up his cheek. "I loved you... long before I was taken by that tornado"

She didn't even give him a chance to react: because not a split-second after she finished, her lips connected with his.

He made a gasping sound from her sudden affection, and it was muffled into her mouth. She never expected him to react right away, and nothing did happen at first, even as her other hand caressed his neck. Nonetheless, she continued to hold him close, moving her lips against his still ones.

After what seemed an eternity, she felt the smallest of touches at her waist: Link's hesitant hands.

Then he slowly and gently started kissing her back, and butterflies fluttered in her stomach, which took the form of a muffled happy sigh. It felt incredible, even more so than when they held hands after she woke up from the crystal... it had felt so natural then, and this did even more so.

He pulled her closer at that moment, both of their bodies pressing together. But far from being surprised, she liked it... a lot. She lightly sucked on his lips to show it, which he copied after awhile.

They continued to kiss until they couldn't ignore the need to breathe any longer. They spent the next few seconds gasping for breath as they never have before.

And Zelda couldn't look up from her hands; her heart was pounding from happiness, her body shook just slightly with nervousness, and all of this showed in the way she played with her own fingers. How would he react? I mean sure, he kissed her back, but what would happen next?

But after a few moments, a hand entered her vision, making her gasp a little. The hand paused a little, then gently moved on top of hers, until they were holding hands yet again. Blushing, she looked up, her heart still pounding.

Much to her happy relief, he held a very similiar expression of nervous happiness. He looked down at their joined hands, his free one sheepishly rubbing his head... before she pulled it down to join in.

Then they both just laughed lightly, in that same happy nervous way.

"I tried to tell you on top of this statue" she said, looking down at their joined hands. "I tried to tell you afterward, on that flight together... now you finally know, Link"

A few seconds passed, then she felt a soft kiss on her forehead, which she reacted to with a surprised gasp, looking up. Link's expression was nervous, yet a bit surprised, like he'd just done that without knowing it.

She merely smiled, then gave him a great big hug, much to his surprise. And as his arms closed around her, she felt warm, and knew their future together was bright indeed.

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**This really should have been a scene in-game, at the epilogue or something. Nuff said.**

**And on another note, it's late yeah, but Happy Holidays everyone! Christmas, New Year, whatever you celebrate... have a good one!**


End file.
